Gov. Scott on Fox News: Mitt Romney needs to 'do what I did' and focus on jobs

Gov. Rick Scott was in New York today making the media rounds and offered up a bit of advice for Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

“I think the race is going to come down to one thing,'' Scott told Fox News' Neil Cavuto. "If Gov. Romney explains that his plan to get jobs going, it’s no different than my race in 2010. All I talked about was what I was going to do to turn the economy around and it worked. Unemployment’s dropped faster than any other state, down 2.3 percent. Last month we were second to Texas in job creation.’’

He suggested that Romney can't get distracted and predicted: “If Gov. Romney talks about jobs, he will win Florida....I’m optimistic he’ll put all his effort into how he can get jobs going because that’s the biggest issue in our country."

Scott acknowledged it’s difficult running for president and "maybe it’s too difficult to talk differently in one state than another." But he urged the presidential candidate to talk about a common theme: “Keep taxes low, reduce regulation, stream line the permitting process.”

"...We can have the highest corporate tax rates and expect businesses to flock to America. We can’t have more regulation than the rest of the world and expect businesses to flock to America....We have to understand we’re competing and our businesses are competing with businesses around the world,’’ he said.

Cavuto asked if Romney could risk alienating the base. Scott said he believe Romney “understands we need less taxes. If we don’t, businesses are going to go out of this country.”

Cavuto asked what recommendation he has for Romney to transition from a chief corporate executive to a chief government one.

Scott responded that the jobs are “similar in that you have to go out and talk to a lot of people. It’s different in that you’ve got a House and a Senate and you have WAY more media attention. Probably the biggest difference is how much media you have.

“Just do what governor’s do: go out and listen to people. You try to bring people together. You don’t waiver from what you believe in. Lower taxes and less taxes and bring people together to see if we can solve some of the problems.”